Enzo arched a brow. “And how does that work?”
Kathleen cut in, patience gone. “You know what? We can play twenty questions later. Here’s the deal.” She pointed at Enzo. “We’re leaving here with the treasure and going to meet Vitale. That’s clearly your endgame too. You’re not here to kill anyone, or we’d already be bleeding. So back off and let us go.”
She turned to Logan. “Get their names and numbers. And maybe talk to your dad, because this?” She gestured between the siblings. “This is no accident.”
Then, tired down to her bones, she said, “Let’s get out of here before trouble finds us.”
“Too late,” a voice said.
Kathleen grimaced, slamming her eyes closed for a moment. When she opened them again, she blurted, “For fuck’s sake.”
A small woman stood in front of them, dressed in dark pants and a pale blouse, her arm extended, another gun trained on Enzo. Large sunglasses hid her eyes, but Kathleen didn’t need to see them to know exactly who this was.
“Carlotta,” Kathleen said, not a question but a fact.
The woman startled, just slightly, then inclined her head once. “Yes.” Her voice was tight, brittle. “I believe what you found belongs to me.”
Kathleen’s heart slammed against her ribs.
She wasn’t sure why this was different, why fear clawed up her spine now when it hadn’t with the others. Guns had already been pointed at Enzo. Threats had already been made. But Carlotta felt different.
Desperate.
The kind of desperation that burned everything around it.
Enzo inclined his head. “I suppose it does. Theoretically. You and your brothers.”
“There is nothing theoretical about it,” Carlotta snapped. Her grip tightened on the gun. “It belongs to me. Where is it? The diamond. Give it to me. Now.”
Kathleen frowned. Where is it? What did she mean, where? Diamond?
“What makes you think it’s a diamond?” Enzo asked.
“I don’t have time for this,” she hissed and then rolled her eyes. “My father loved gemstones. And he left a hint. “I havechased gold across continents, but my greatest find came from mining something far less obvious—and far harder to steal.”He’s been trying to find a specific diamond, the Valmont Star for years. I think he found it and had to buy it!” she said triumphantly.
Kathleen shivered despite the hot sun overhead. The gleam in Carlotta’s eye when she spoke of the diamond was…scary. Like she was a woman possessed. Or deranged.
Enzo lowered his hand and let the clear sleeve drop into view, the slim metallic object catching the light as it swung. He said calmly. “This is what your father hid in the fountain.”
Carlotta went white.
“That’s it?” Carlotta’s voice cracked. “There’s nothing else? No diamond?” Her composure shattered. “Treasure,” Carlotta snarled. “Real treasure. My father was famous for it. What the hell is this?”
“It’s a wallet,” Enzo said evenly. “For cryptocurrency.”
If there had been any color left in Carlotta’s face, those words erased it. She swayed, her shoulders beginning to shake.
For a heartbeat, Kathleen thought she was crying.
Then the sound came.
High-pitched. Uncontrolled. Wrong.
Laughter burst out of Carlotta, sharp enough to raise the hair on Kathleen’s arms. It echoed strangely against the hedges, brittle and wild.
“Carlotta?” Kathleen said cautiously. “Are you…okay?”
The gun dipped.
